One of Xbox’s stated goals in this new era is to focus on its biggest franchises and get them to market more quickly. And nothing has been approaching the market so slowly as The Elder Scrolls VI, announced in 2018 and still without even a release year set today.
The game is coming along, however, and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma shared the following after a trip to Bethesda:
“Live playthrough of The Elder Scrolls VI: ******** this morning. The scale and grandeur are incredible. The story is even greater.”
You will note the stars there, blocking out the subtitle of VI, which would come after Skyrim, Oblivion, Morrowind and Daggerfall. It certainly seemed possible that the number of stars, eight, was a random pick by Sharma, but then Bethesda replied, thanking her for playing The Elder Scrolls VI: ******** as well. Eight letters. At that point, it seems like a bit more than a coincidence. So, what are the options?
- Hammerfell – Dismissed for too many letters
- Redguard – Already used for The Elder Scrolls Adventures in 1998
- Dominion – Eight letters, the elven empire being named the Aldmeri Dominion. Also, it sounds cool.
- High Rock – The northwestern-most region in Tamriel, though no other names have spaces, and that does not sound cool.
- Cyrodiil – The main capital of the human empires, though obviously we have been there already, extensively. Still, possible.
- Sentinel – One of the nine major kingdoms of Hammerfell, so if Hammerfell doesn’t fit, that would.
- Covenant – Possibly a reference to the Daggerfall Covenant, an alliance of High Rock, Sentinel and Orsinium in the Second Era. Or, The Covenant, a group prophesied by the Elder Scrolls to end the Daedra Wars.
My picks here would be Dominion, Covenant or Sentinel, in that order. The rest don’t fit or don’t make a ton of sense. I really do think the eight letters mean something. And, ironically, this is the most information we’ve gotten out of Elder Scrolls VI in probably half a decade now.
Under Sharma’s tweet, past all the guesses, there are a huge number of fans telling her that Elder Scrolls VI should be Xbox exclusive as easily the biggest first-party game of this generation. Maybe last generation too. There remain three options there: 1) no, they need those PlayStation sales, 2) yes, and it becomes a big motivator for Game Pass subs if they put it Day One, 3) they make it exclusive but exclude it from Day One Game Pass, Call of Duty-style. Or, I suppose 4) some combination of those, making it timed exclusive on PlayStation. We’ll see. I don’t want to say soon. Someday?
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